REPORT: Trump’s Defense Budget Seeks Boost to Missile Defense

The world is a dangerous place, especially with nuclear arsenals sitting in the hands of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.

According to the Free Beacon, President Donald Trump’s $686 billion defense budget for 2019 would increase missile defense spending by more than 25 percent over the Pentagon’s 2018 request, underscoring the administration’s concern about North Korea’s expanding ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

The Pentagon on Monday proposed to allocate $12.9 billion to the country’s overall missile defense, including about $9.9 billion for the Missile Defense Agency. The figure is $2 billion more than MDA’s previous request.

Pentagon Comptroller David Norquist told reporters the budget request reflects calls in the National Defense Strategy to focus investments on “layered missile defense and disruptive capabilities” to defend against theater missile threats and the ballistic missile threat from Pyongyang.